As the temperature gets colder I find myself reaching for more and more liquid comfort. Tea and hot chocolate isn’t a revolutionary concept but if you’ve never tried it I encourage you to indulge your decadent side. My friend had brought me some dark chocolate and half and half which set my craving aflame, and my play-with-my-food side, so here goes:

Version 1:

1 c water – bring to a boil and add:

1-2 Tb black tea of choice *or 1-2 bags, adjust amount to taste and how broken (smaller) the leaf is. If the leaf is more broken the less tea you’ll likely need

simmer 3-5 minutes (to taste)

strain the leaves out (or remove the bags if that’s what you’re using)

While the tea simmers:

Melt 3 squares (between .8 and 1 oz.) chocolate with about 1 cup half and half or milk alternative of choice (the more fat the more decadent it will be). I used 3 squares of the TJs 73% dark chocolate you can see in the photo above. You can microwave in 10 second increments until melted.

Stir milk and chocolate together until blended.

*If you don’t use a microwave you can slowly melt the chocolate on the stove, or double boiler style, and then add the milk and blend.

Add the chocolate mixture to the tea along with some sugar to taste. I used a teaspoon. If the chocolate you use is very sweet you may want to skip the sugar. Milk chocolate may need less or no sugar compared to a dark chocolate.

Whisk it all together and serve alone, with marshmallows or whipped cream and chocolate shavings or a crispy cookie/biscuit thing for dunking.

Version 2:

Now that first version came out like a decadent dark hot chocolate with an echo of tea flavor. So… I made a regular cup of fairly strong black tea and then mixed together equal parts of the straight tea and the chocolate/tea blend. Then I grabbed my friends and did a taste test. We all agreed that though both were delicious, for tea fabulousness the second option won out. Give both a try and see what you like.

Other variations:

1) Cocoa powder: Using cocoa powder and sugar instead of chocolate – this option is less smooth and luxurious but you have a means of increasing or decreasing the chocolatey-ness without adding fat/cocoa butter. Speaking of which, you could add butter to this method if you want that creamy feel.

2) Instant cocoa packets: Hey, use whatcha got. Sometimes you just have a craving for something chocolatey and maybe you’re a student on a budget or that is just what you have on hand. Why not try heating that up with milk/milk substitute of choice and blending it with a cup of tea in equal amounts.

3) Spicy!: You could do this up like a chocolate chai putting spices like a garam masala blend or just some cinnamon in with the tea when it is simmering. Really good.

4) White chocolate: mix it up with the paler version of this treat.

5) Flavored tea and add-ins: Earl Grey hot chocolate is a familiar option to many tea lovers but you could use a caramel tea, a rose tea, or put lavender or orange extract in the mix (yeah, like those chocolate orange holiday treats).

Go ahead! Play with your tea. We won’t tell. Enjoy!

on L -first tea/chocolate mixture; on R - half tea half tea/chocolate mixture. They look alike but the difference is in the tasting with the cup on the R giving more tea flavor, and less sugar